The Question were one of the greats in the pantheon of Southern California mod bands in the 1980s. They were there at the very beginning in the early 80s, and survived performing right through the end of the decade.
I first saw them play at The Concert Factory, I think, in the spring of 1984. I remember the show because it was before I bought my first scooter and I reallly hated having to drive to the show in my pathetic old Vega. The area was packed with scooters and the club was full of sharp dressed mods. The band was still riding high on the release of their first single the year previous.The Question first started in 1981 and by the release of their first single in 1983 had built quite a following. In 1985 when their second single dropped they were packing out shows all over Southern California and even though they didn't play ska songs, like the Untouchables they pulled crowds equally from the mods and skinheads.
Here's how Insight Out magazine lauded The Question in the Mods Mayday 89 issue:
It was 1981 and people called them mods and scooters were their gods, and they were Los Angeles' answer to The Jam. With the enigmatic Tony Rugulo as their lead vocalist and on guitar, Daniel on bass and David White on drums (now with The Untouchables) the band took off after their appearance on the Wharf Rat Tales compilaiton with their first two L.A. mod anthems "Shall Be Love" and "Brand New World."
This was followed in early 1983 by the release of their first 7" EP with "Easy", "Stare You Down", and "Distance Apart". 1983 Also marked a big boom in the local scene which was spearheaded by The Question. Returning from a very successful three week mini-tour of Hawaii they sold out the Country Club in Reseda while headlining a show that included mod faves like The Targets, Sidewalk Society and The Jets.
Throughout '84-85 The Question continued to play to packed houses. 1985 saw Phil Cuzimano join the band on guitar while Tony changed over to bass (Phil started in The Patterns and then played a dual role in The Question and Chardon Square for quite some time), and marked the release of the band's second EP featuring "Getting Through". "Daddy Rolling Stone", and "The Right Track", all of which became crowd favorites. It was just after this that Tony wrote "Wild Child" for The Untouchables. Undoubtedly, The Question have a solid history in the L.A. mod scene, and will add another chapter at the Mayday show.
The Question always had a great mod revival sound that could either be along the lines of hard driven power pop bordering on punk, or very soulful with lots of sixties R&B influences. Their shows were always packed, and even though the band had a sort of rotating line -- up Tony kept it all together and delivered fantastic shows.
The song here is "Shall Be Love" one of the band's best. Here is a video of the band doing their version of "Wild Child", also at Fender's, at the Mod Jam Festival in 1988. (All apologies for the video quality)
Just as an interesting side note, throughout the 80s there was a persistent rumor in the scene that Rugulo's father, Pete, was a jazz musician and a composer/arranger in Hollywood for TV and films. More than a rumor, it was the truth. Pete Rugulo, among other things, penned the theme song to Leave it To Beaver.
